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Author Topic: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use  (Read 2840 times)

Offline Karadek

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need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« on: October 21, 2020, 01:07:18 PM »
Hi, everyone. I'm looking at getting into a 25mm historicals game. Over time, I've bought a large number of Wargames Factory Romans and Celts, as well as a small band (about 50) of Scottish Highlanders. I realize the Highlanders are not exactly Roman-era, but they're primitive (no black powder), so I'll count them as Picts.  I've always liked and bought the minis, but now it's time to do something with them.

What I really need are some recommendations as to the best rule set to go with it. Here are the key things I'm looking for:

1. Fun
2. Games under 2 hrs
3. Widely played/Easy to find opponents
4. Suitable for small actions as well as large; as I said, I don't have that many Highlanders
5. Well-written rules. Art is not essential.

I'd dearly love to hear your suggestions. I've been looking at Hail Caesar and Field of Glory so far. I'm definitely open to other suggestions as well.

Offline SteveBurt

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Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2020, 01:24:43 PM »
To the Strongest is excellent. Plays fast and is a good game which is pretty historical.
Field of Glory is a good set of rules but you'll be lucky to finish a game in 2 hours.
Sword & Spear is also good

Offline Shahbahraz

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Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2020, 05:52:20 PM »
I'm a big fan of the Too Fat Lardies 'Infamy, Infamy' rules. Rich plays a game online which is a good intro, at the moment it's basically Romans vs 'Barbarians' but further guides are expected for the Punic Wars and points further East:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIxcVigJvgQ&ab_channel=toofatlardies
Wargaming since the dark ages...

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Offline SJWi

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Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2020, 07:02:45 PM »
Good evening.  I too love "To the Strongest" but you probably need about 150 figures per side.  As well as Sword and Spear I would mention Gripping Beast's "Swordpoint".

Offline madaxeman

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Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2020, 08:16:25 PM »
If you're prepared to base your figures up on "DBx standard" multiple figures bases (60mm wide for 25/8mm) then the "widely played" criteria would seem to put DBA and L'Art de la Guerre very much into the mix.

DBA is definately under 2 hours, ADLG is borderline if you go for it - both have ("had") active competition circuits, with ADLG having more 25mm events.

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Offline AFC Forever

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Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2020, 12:00:38 PM »
I am also a fan of ADLG and DBA but the best advice I can give is to see what the local players like and go with the flow.

Around here ADLG is king and DBA has dropped off so I would not get a game in anyways. Your local players may like something different. You may find Hail Caesar is popular with your local area but it needs lot of figures so it didn't catch on here.

Saga is also worth looking at although the book isn't out yet for this period so I would give it a miss.

There are basically 3 ways you can base - singly, DB(x) standard as mentioned and a the square Warhammer ancients style. For some rulesets it matters ad some it doesn't so I would get that sorted first.

Offline Shahbahraz

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Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2020, 01:29:21 PM »
Yep. Get the basing right and it all falls into place. For 25/28mm I have just adopted 1p coins for rankers and 2p for officers, musicians and standard bearers. I then use warbases sabot bases. As I would expect to provide both sides, I can then treat each sabot base as an 'element' for DBx style games like DBA, DBMM, Impetus, FoG or AdlG and group them on larger bases for Warhammer/Hail Caesar.

Offline SJWi

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Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2020, 08:16:51 PM »
Hi, I would second the use of Sabot bases, and Warbases* seem to offer the most versatile range. They will even produce "custom" bases if you ask them . Sabots may appear pricey but when you can be paying several hundred £/$s for your figures it is a small investment to pay to get versatility .

* Other sabot bases are available!

Offline Easy E

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Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2020, 08:51:58 PM »
Yes, find out what others are playing in your area. 

That said, games that this could work for are:

1. Swordpoint
2. Sword and Spear
3. Wars of the Republic
4. SPQR
5. Broken Legions
6. Infamy, Infamy
7. Clash of Spears

DBA, Impetus and ADLG are typically geared to 15mm, so would need to find like minded/based players first.

That is my flawed thoughts on the matter.....
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Offline SteveBurt

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Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #9 on: October 23, 2020, 08:31:49 AM »
If you mainly want to play mass battle game, then use 'DBx' style multibases. The figures can be used for skirmishes but you'll need to mark casualties or make change with single figures. On the other hand, if you mainly want to play skirmishes, single base and use sabots for mass battles, although you'll find sabots are never ideal when playing mass battle games.

Offline AndyG

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Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #10 on: October 23, 2020, 10:25:38 AM »
I’d also recommend to the strongest.

The grid speeds up play,  the rules are not complicated and once you get the hang  of them most games should take under 2 hours unless you are being very relaxed or trying something big, Another plus is  base sizes are not that important so long as the units fit in the grid size you use which means there is flexibility to use armies based for other rule sets. Army lists are free and there is a very active tapa talk forum to support the rules and some free scenarios available for historic refights . Finally I’m the type of gamer who for years avoided competition games like the plague but I’ve been to the main TTS  Chalgrove for a few years now and each time has 4 great games against friendly opponents.

Offline AndyG

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  • Posts: 65
Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2020, 10:27:11 AM »
I’d also recommend to the strongest.

The grid speeds up play,  the rules are not complicated and once you get the hang  of them most games should take under 2 hours unless you are being very relaxed or trying something big, Another plus is  base sizes are not that important so long as the units fit in the grid size you use which means there is flexibility to use armies based for other rule sets. Army lists are free and there is a very active tapa talk forum to support the rules and some free scenarios available for historic refights . Finally I’m the type of gamer who for years avoided competition games like the plague but I’ve been to the main TTS  Chalgrove for a few years now and each time has 4 great games against friendly opponents.

Offline SJWi

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1638
Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2020, 06:05:09 PM »
I would also heartily recommend "To The Strongest" (TTS), and that's not knocking any other set.  Ancients and Medieval is my main historical interest and I found it quite galling never to find a set of rules that suited me.  I have used TTS for everything from Hittite vs Sea Peoples through to 15th century Italy and it never fails to give a good game.  Probably not for the purist competition gamer due to its activation mechanism but it works for me and all my mates. It is unashamedly aimed at "big battles" so if you base your figures individually using sabots you could also use the figures for one of the more "skirmish" based games such as Saga or Infamy.   

Offline Shahbahraz

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Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2020, 06:14:53 PM »
Big Battle ancients I use DBMM. Not the easiest set of rules to get your head around, but cracking games with a ton of incident and variety. I think one of the real strengths is that both players are engaged, so opposed dice rolls, genius.

And it handles historical match-ups really well. I have a few niggles, but generally speaking it's my go to set for big battles. I will leave criticisms of other sets like AdlG, Impetus, TTS, MeG and FoG to others.

Offline SteveBurt

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Re: need advice on 25mm ancients ruleset to use
« Reply #14 on: October 27, 2020, 10:31:39 AM »
DBMM is great, but I found that the rules are sufficiently complex that you need to play them pretty regularly otherwise you forget vital bits of the rules. Given how many periods I play, I find it better to use simpler rules that I can pick up easily when I come back to a period.

 

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